During a recent interview with CBS Sports, Roman Reigns commented on his feud with Kevin Owens, wanting to work with Paul Heyman for the rest of his career, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On his storyline with Kevin Owens: “I think if you just looked at it on paper, he’s the exact opposite of me. We look different, we carry ourselves differently, we have different backgrounds. It’s just completely different presentations, and there’s something very interesting about polar opposites going at it and competing against each other to see who is the best. But, from the intangible standpoint, what KO brings to the table is his own way and own package — his relentlessness to be great. He has a passion to try to capture the next level and that, as performers, is something you have to have.
“The audience is looking for those stars who are trying to do that and be mega-stars and achieve the unattainable while pushing each other to the next level. We’ve beat the crap out of KO for months, and he gets up with a smile on his face wanting more. He’s a guy who, no matter what he’s put through, enjoys the upper echelon of the wrestling business and being able to tell very detailed, intricate and sophisticated wrestling narratives. That’s something he’s been craving his entire career. And to be able to do it in WWE after going through so much and probably having to swallow that “no pill” a lot through his career with a lot of people trying to tell him no. That’s something that he really showcases — that relentlessness to keep getting up, keep going and keep fighting.”
On working with Paul Heyman: “He’s just a pleasure to be around,” Reigns said of Heyman. “Not only that, to be able to work with him? A lot of people just look at him as this creative genius and someone who is masterful on the microphone. But, the attention to detail is in every area, from anything that I need. This man has gotten me towels from the hotel to make sure they’re big enough, to picking me up custom steaks from the butcher last week.
“This guy does not cut his corners, he really is all hands on deck. It’s not just what he does from a creative standpoint or on camera, and he’s the greatest of all time with what he does in promoting and selling his athletes and how much demand he puts on the matches he’s involved in. He really does anything under the sun to make sure that the talent he’s working with is completely comfortable and focused on what they’re doing. It’s been a pleasure to work with him.”
On wanting to work with Heyman for the rest of his career: “If something happens and we’re no longer on screen together, I don’t think I’ll ever want to work without him one way or another. Even if we’re not a pairing on television anymore, I will still want and need him at television to work with me. Even throughout the week. We’ll start texting throughout the week to get ideas and figure out the message we want to get across. It’s a weekly battle where we don’t always get our way, but we try our best to do that.
“It’s definitely a really neat scenario as far as brainstorming and creative spitballing in trying to push the envelope and create the most sophisticated narrative every week. We say it every week: attention to detail. Those details are what make the product and hook people. We don’t want to insult our audience and make them think we feel they’re stupid; we know they’re not. Especially our hardcore fanbase, they’ve been watching professional wrestling and sports entertainment for a long time, they’ve seen it all. So we constantly think about what we can do to be different. What we can do to be better. And what we can do to achieve greatness every single week.”
